Was/Is Hugh Jackman the right "Wolverine"?

[jo]

Quite a few thinking that the actor playing a version of Wolverine ( Patch in Madripoor) must be Daniel Radcliffe.

Some have responded that Daniel is too associated with Harry Potter or is so different height-wise from Jackman.

My response:

JoAB
@joab46466753
·
1h
HughJackman as Wolverine, per JamesMangold,is the essence of incredible masculinity&strength.DanielRadcliffe is a good actor but does not connect w/ the essence of badass Wolverine.Seen them both on Bway. HJ is a very charismatic man while DR is too boyish for the Wolverine role.

[jo]

Henry Cavill, the erstwhile Superman with another studio, is said to have been offered a role at Marvel Studios.


His fans are pushing that he replace Hugh Jackman eventually as the MCU Wolverine because HJ is getting old.

Someone did this illustration --





Compare --

[njr]

Henry Cavill will be 41 in May.

[jo]

So many arguing against the casting of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

One is the height factor:

t

Lara
@goofylittlelara
·
Feb 20
WOLVERINE IS SHORT GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS PEOPLE
Quote
BLURAYANGEL 🦇
@blurayangel
·



@mumflrfumperdi1
·
23h
You do realize that an actor doesn't have to look like a character to play that character right? Who gives a fuck that wolverine is short, is that really so important to get right about his character? Hugh Jackman wasn't short and he played wolverine perfectly.



ChairmanWulf
@chairmanwulf
·
3h
actual Wolverines are small and stubby yet ferocious; he's literally named after them b/c he embodies them PHYSICALLY and personality-wise. His size is actually very important to his identity, Hugh Jackman has ruined the character (for live-action)



JoAB
@joab46466753

A small-sized actor in live-action:
XMen(cage&bar)
XMen2(hideway school)
XMen3(fight on GGate)
Logan(up the mountain)
he would look ridiculous in fight scenes -like runt of the litter.
In the comics,everything can be exaggerated but not look absurd.Different entertanment mediums!

[jo]

JoAB
@joab46466753
Wolverine is supposed to be around 180 yrs old! HughJackman would be the most age-appropriate 😊

[jo]

Why is there so much on social media ( esp "X") challenging Hugh Jackman's casting as Wolverine?

As if they are all coming out of the woodwork. And someone resurrected a clip of Hugh as Peter Allen, insisting that Hugh only wants to be a "dancing queen".

And those suggestions of Daniel Radcliffe, Taron Egerton & Henry Cavill as possible replacements??

It is too much!

I am beginning to wonder if this is a campaign to make Hugh relax his fight against Disney ? To make him go along with Iger's cost-cutting measures, including reducing pay grades.

it is too sustained!




************************************************

A most recent example --

Zach
@zjfrank13
·
26m
Hugh Jackman portraying Wolverine for nearly 3 decades has done irreparable damage to the perception of who the character actually is



JoAB
@joab46466753
By the very fact that the story of Wolverine and the XMen was sustained from 2000(1st XMen) - 2017 (Logan) is testament to HughJackman's ability to provide audience interest in this singular role! Now he is continuing the LIVE-ACTI0N legacy in Deadpool&Wolverine! Great actor!



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
2s
The recent Fandango survey result on the superhero actor that people are most interested to see in 2024 is "Hugh Jackman" in Deadpool&Wolverine is testament to the public approval of his decades-long Wolverine characterization 🤩👍👏

Hugh has done so much for the genre -- and what does he get but these insults.

Can you imagine actors like Daniel Radcliffe intimidating the enemies as Hugh did in the XMen movies.
The cage & bar scenes in the first XMen showed the quintessential Wolverine, as shown by Hugh Jackman.
Ha - will those men who fought with Jackman's Wolverine be intimidated at all by Daniel Radcliffe?? They will
likely just laugh at his efforts.

Live action is completely different from comicbooks. The comics will allow anything and everything and seem still credible and entertaining -- but change to live-action movies -- and credibility becomes the first order of the day!

Jo

[jo]

CinemaBlend

The Full Story Behind Hugh Jackman (Almost Not) Landing The Role Of Wolverine
Mike Reyes
November 10, 2023·9 min read

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Some Hollywood castings are just too iconic to imagine happening any other way. Just as we’ve seen with those persistent rumors of Ronald Reagan being offered Casablanca and that time Viggo Mortensen replaced Stuart Townsend in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, thinking of what could have been is severely intriguing.

The world of Marvel movies in order is a place that has tons of those "what ifs" stored up. That leads us to the story of how Hugh Jackman almost wasn’t cast as X-Men’s Wolverine in 2000, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. Height, “intensity” and two different Hollywood Toms all played a part in connecting the man with his destiny, making for a wild story that’s still kind of hard to believe.

Wolverine cameo in X-Men First Class

The Two Stumbling Blocks That Hugh Jackman Experienced When Auditioning For Wolverine
When director Bryan Singer’s X-Men was gearing up to get into production, it was after quite a bit of development history. Part of those events saw series comic writer Chris Claremont pointing Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s Bob Hoskins as his first choice for the part of James Howlett, more commonly known as “Logan” or “Wolverine.”

There was good reason too, as the character was known as being of a shorter and stockier build than the dreamy Hugh Jackman. When he appeared as a guest on Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace, the height difference was one of the concerns that the Australian actor mentioned as a going concern. Here’s how he recalled that very issue being addressed by then-Fox president Tom Rothman:

I did about seven auditions … I remember finally, I did audition, audition, audition, and then I went to see the head of production. We were talking, and he said, ‘It’s just one problem. I hope the fans are not gonna have a problem, because the character’s meant to be 5 foot 5.’ And I said, ‘Tom, really, it’s gonna be absolutely fine. Don’t worry about a thing.’

Jackman even accentuated that story by walking away crouched as he concluded his remarks to Rothman, something that would come back to haunt him to a certain extent in the future. But at the moment, Hugh’s 6’3” stature seemed to be problem #1.

Problem #2 came from the killer edge needed to play the role of Wolverine. That concern was addressed by one of X-Men’s credited screenwriters, David Hayter, during an interview with Inverse. The Watchmen screenwriter shared the perceived pros and cons of hiring Hugh Jackman as follows:

He was great, but he was the nicest guy in the world and he was very tall and super handsome, so we didn’t think he was Wolverine. … I think one thing Hugh captured with Wolverine is his heart. Hugh is such a lovely, caring guy and that really came through in the character. Hugh’s real strength came from the humanity of Wolverine. All that was left was to find the viciousness.

Though he made quite the impression, Hugh Jackman wasn’t meant to be cast in X-Men the first time around. Which, at the time, was good news for his competition; even if one major name turned the role down for some interesting reasons, and the eventual winner would see fate turn fickle.




Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Competition
Out of the candidates that were present during the X-Men Games, two need to be discussed in our story. And as luck would have it, Hugh Jackman’s interview with The Daily Beast laid out those key players as follows:

I did a casting call that thousands of people did around the world, and believe I was put in the mix early on. Dougray Scott got the part, Russell turned it down—that’s the second role I’ve gotten that Russell’s turned down. He’s been very good to me, Russ. The other one was Australia.

So as you can see, Dougray Scott was originally crowned as X-Men’s Wolverine. But let’s go back a minute, because a Gladiator-era Russell Crowe was offered that same role and passed on it. What in the world would have possessed Maximus Decimus Meridius, “commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor,” to pass up on popping these Marvel Comics claws?

Well, according to a radio interview via news.com.au, it all came down a simple decision. In the context of what Crowe's caveat happened to be, you can be sure the following moment still hounds him to this very day:

If you remember, Maximus has a wolf at the centre of his cuirass, and he has a wolf as his companion ... which I thought was going to be a bigger deal [at the time]. So I said no, because I didn’t want to be ‘wolfy’, like ‘Mr Wolf’.

Russell Crowe was out, and despite his recommendation of Hugh Jackman, Dougray Scott was in! Things were looking up, and X-Men had its snarling madman, who undoubtedly had the same “problems” as Hugh Jackman. The Scottish actor standing an even 6’ may have inspired similar anxieties, but that didn’t stop Fox president Tom Rothman from announcing Scott’s casting in a press release (via Flickering Myth), which read as follows:

Bryan [Singer] was incredibly demanding over who could play [Wolverine], and we needed to find somebody who was dynamic. Dougray has the charisma, the physicality and the intensity.




Normally, this is the point in a story such as this where the movie’s made, leaving the world to debate whether Dougray Scott’s return for Deadpool 3 is a wise move. But that story exists in a parallel universe, one where our second Hollywood Tom didn’t enter the picture.

Dougray Scott stands looking annoyed in Mission Impossible II.
The Accident That Ultimately Landed Hugh Jackman As X-Men’s Wolverine
So Dougray Scott’s X-Men casting happened while he was making another movie: the espionage thriller Mission: Impossible 2. That’s right, folks, Tom Cruise is a big part of why the once-and-never Wolverine didn’t get to fulfill his potential destiny in the pre-MCU firmament. Once again, David Hayter’s interview with Inverse yielded the details as to why this fell apart, which played out as follows:

We kept getting calls from Tom Cruise saying, ‘We just need him a little longer.’When we were about to start shooting the movie, we hadn’t seen Wolverine or fit him for costumes so we sent costumer Louise Mingenbach down to Australia to fit him, and it turned out he had been in a motorcycle accident shooting Mission: Impossible 2 and he’s dropped down to like 150 pounds. It just wasn’t going to work.

Between production delays on the second of the Mission: Impossible movies and those unfortunate injuries, Dougray Scott was off the table as Wolverine. It was Hugh Jackman’s time to shine, which led to one more crucial audition. Hayter, through his talk with Inverse, admitted to one specific factor that convinced the lot once and for all that Hugh was their man:

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said, “Let’s bring back Hugh Jackman.” So she had him flown out and they did coaching sessions with him to really get him to that sort of Clint Eastwood hardass edge. Then he came in and did his audition and there was this one moment where he turned to the camera and he looked like young Clint Eastwood. That was the moment.

While poor Dougray Scott had damaged ribs to mend, Hugh Jackman had some claws to get fitted for. And in the case of a crucial figure in X-Men history we mentioned at the top of the story, those adamantium appendages were exactly what sealed the deal for Jackman and his casting.

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine with adamantium claws out
How X-Men Solved Hugh Jackman’s Height Problem, And Why It Was All Worth It
Once Hugh Jackman stepped into the role of Wolverine for 2000’s X-Men, there was no turning back. There apparently wasn’t a lot of standing up straight, at least for a time, while the Australian actor landed his landmark performance. Throwing it back to the Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace interview mentioned previously, Hugh detailed this solution to his taller than required stature while filming:

I never had my shoes on. … The rule was, unless they were a kid, they had to be taller than me. I was literally crouching like that, shoes off, people were on planks and boxes all around me. So they went to a great effort, and I think after a while they just gave up on that.

So Mr. Jackman charmed his way into decades of inspirational cold showers and delicious-looking Deadpool 3 cheat meals all thanks to timing and ability. But who did he have left to impress? Try X-Men comic writer Chris Claremont, a party who was very protective of the mutant.

However that didn’t take much apparently; it was just one scene that Claremont mentioned in Inverse’s oral history of Wolverine. Sometimes the claws do make the mutant, and with the decision to make Wolverine’s claws sprout painfully from his hands, that much was true for Chris. Which led to this overjoyed reaction from his premiere screening of the finished film:

It was epitomized onscreen in the first X-Men movie when Anna Paquin looks up at Hugh Jackman and asks, “Does it hurt?” Then he takes this marvelous five or ten-second beat and says, “Every time.” I remember jumping up at the premiere and saying “Yes!” at the top of my lungs. Not only because it was my line from the comics, but it also epitomizes the character.

Call it fate, destiny or just a series of events that led to where we are today, but Hugh Jackman feels like he was meant to be Wolverine. All that’s really left at this point is to honor the story that led to that fate, and to prepare ourselves for his return in Deadpool 3, which is scheduled to hit theaters in Summer 2024.

Which means it’s also time to relive all of Mr. Jackman’s past adventures in the X-Men saga, through the usage of a Disney+ subscription. After all of this storytelling, we’ve earned that right; especially when it comes to the joyful cameo he made in X-Men: First Class.
[/quote]

[jo]

In a big way, Lauren Shuler Donner ( not only the producer, but also owned the film rights to the XMen series) -- was instrumental in Hugh Jackman's casting as Wolverine!

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said, “Let’s bring back Hugh Jackman.” So she had him flown out and they did coaching sessions with him to really get him to that sort of Clint Eastwood hardass edge. Then he came in and did his audition and there was this one moment where he turned to the camera and he looked like young Clint Eastwood. That was the moment.

Jo

[jo]

And it all started with LSDonner seeing Hugh Jackman perform in the London "Oklahoma!"

Jo

[jo]

I can't understand why quite a few want a new face for Wolverine.

But there are also many loyal fans of Hugh Jackman in the role.

Logan met Daredevil
@diamondspiderp
·
8h
Lowkey kinda against the idea of them recasting Logan for the MCU now. I just love Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine so much and don’t like the idea of anyone else in the role? Would I be upset if they recast him? No, probably not, but I don’t think anyone could do a better job


JoAB
@joab46466753
HughJackman has created such an extraordinary impact in defining the character on screen that the role became identical to him. An exceptional actor - both on screen and in the theatre. The first XMen movie lucked on him...& the franchise was sustained by his continuing presence!

Shadow
@blackshadowcopy
·
52m
He doesn't have to do better. Not everyone needs to top the actor who came before them. He just needs to be great enough. They definitely need to recast him, because the only other option would be bringing Hugh Jackman back and that would be a horrible idea



Logan met Daredevil
@diamondspiderp
·
51m
Strongly disagree with that last bit



Shadow
@blackshadowcopy
·
50m
Hugh Jackman is perfect as Wolverine, but let the man rest. He played the guy for 24 years now



JoAB
@joab46466753
He was perfect in creating a silver screen Wolverine - the intensity and humanity of the clawed mutant. Hugh Jackman is a man of strong acting strengths - and the Wolverine role is only 1 of them. But he cares enough that he wants to explore the many sides of this famed character!

[jo]

Logan met Daredevil
@diamondspiderp
·
Mar 6
Lowkey kinda against the idea of them recasting Logan for the MCU now. I just love Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine so much and don’t like the idea of anyone else in the role? Would I be upset if they recast him? No, probably not, but I don’t think anyone could do a better job



Key'Shawn Watkins #BLM
@keywatkins51299
·
Mar 6
Well, they’ll have to recast him eventually. Hugh’s 55, and I don’t think he’ll wanna stick around after Secret Wars.



Punishder74
@king999ner54491
·
54m
He’ll be 58 by the time Secret wars is out ain’t no way he’ll be able to carry 10 years of the mutant saga & it ends with a 68 year old Hugh Jackman.



JoAB
@joab46466753

Age has not kept some actors from action movies, like Liam Neeson who is past 70, and who is still perceived as credible in his roles.
We do not know what Hugh Jackman has planned for his involvement in the Wolverine role, so let us not deride his ability as a superhero actor.



JoAB
@joab46466753
Hugh Jackman also is one superhero actor who can act into his golden years because of his range ( drama/action/musicals/darkcomedy/romcom/sci-fi/biopics). His versatility extends to both film & stage.
Not all just about muscles - acting skills are as important in casting a role.

[jo]

Robert Jefferson
@comicsexplained
·
3h
Angela Basset would have made a fantastic Storm in the old X-Men movies. I will die on this hill.
Duvaughn Marley 🇯🇲🇺🇸



@marleyduvaughn
·
2h
They picked Halle because she was hyped up the most in Hollywood at that time! 🤷🏿‍♂️



Rah One 🇳🇬🇬🇧
@eon1eno
·
21m
And they still gave her less screen time than the complete unknown at the time Hugh Jackman.



JoAB
@joab46466753
Focus of the story was the entry of the clawed mutant to the group of other mutants. Hence, the focus on comicbook favorite Wolverine. A decision that was well-served. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine carried the franchise till it was sold to Disney. Now, he's back as a Disney Wolverine.

[jo]

Some discussions now on Cavill and other actors who will play Wolverine variants. This is either an interesting plot point - the search for the real Wolverine by Deadpool...or an attempt to pre-cast a younger Wolverine when Hugh Jackman retires his version of the role or when he can no longer accept the conditions imposed by Iger et al (changing the character to be more WOKE or less violent).

I posted this, as a comment --

JoAB
@joab46466753

What Hugh Jackman has brought to the movie Wolverine is not just his physique & incredible masculinity -it was also his fine acting skills - bringing such an intensity to the character, occasionally laced with wry humor.And an emotional depth in LOGAN that was totally unexpected!

Cavill, Egerton, Radcliffe -- each one falls short of a key trait!  

They will have to persuade Hugh Jackman to stay with the role as long as possible


Jo

[jo]

LOL - sowing doubt that Deadpool & Wolverine will once again showcase Hugh Jackman as the Clawed Mutant!

Luchadormouse
@kid0s0
·
8h
And what makes you so sure it’s gonna be Jackman? Cus no offense, we all know what he looks like. So why are all the teasers not showing his face? I smell conspiracy. Also sorry but nobody is gonna regard the not-Wanda led movies the way they still talk about the Singer movies.



CosmicGeek84 (Wolverine era)
@thecosmicgeek84
Bro Jackman being in this film is as confirmed as my existence. There are photos, videos, even a teaser posted by ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman talking about the film.



JoAB
@joab46466753

Replying to
@thecosmicgeek84
@kid0s0
and 4 others

Check out these leaked set photos when they were filming outside.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12284765/Ryan-Reynolds-Hugh-Jackman-film-scenes-Deadpool-3.html

[jo]

Even when there are multiple Wolverines - you know which one is actually Hugh Jackman

[njr]

Stunt double on left!

[jo]

[jo]

Deadpool 3 News and Updates
@dp3_news
·
15m
Channing Tatum left a comment on Hugh Jackman’s latest post.🔥
“Letttsss gooo daddy!!!!”

[jo]

NOW -- actors cast as Wolverine in 1999


Dougray Scott ( original casting of Wolverine character for XMen-1)





Hugh Jackman ( replacement casting of Wolverine character for XMen-1)

[jo]

Co-star on the screen test and the final movie -- Anna Paquin shares her thoughts on Hugh Jackman!

Anna Paquin Recalls Watching X-Men Costar Hugh Jackman Achieve Global Fame While Still Being ‘Kind’ (Exclusive)
The actress, who starred at Rogue in the franchise, says she saw Jackman go from complete unknown to movie star without getting a big head: 'He's a role model'

By Gillian Telling Published on March 29, 2024 07:00AM EDT
Anna Paquin as Rogue
Anna Paquin now, and as Rogue in X-Men in 2000. PHOTO: EAMONN M. MCCORMACK/GETTY; JOE PUGLIESE / 20TH CENTURY FOX / TV GUIDE / COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION




When the movie X-Men was released in 2000, it was the first time actress Anna Paquin had found herself starring in a major blockbuster after doing a string of indie films.

"I think I was going into my senior year, so I was 17. And it was totally different, and so much fun," she says of playing Rogue in the film, which kicked off the franchise. "I hadn't grown up a comic book person and it already had a gigantic following so I did my research obviously. When you're in something with that type of fanbase, you have to show respect."

The movie also starred Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn, as well as a then mostly unknown Aussie actor named Hugh Jackman, who had been tapped to play Wolverine.

"That was the role that really turned him into a humungous, gigantic movie star, and it couldn't have happened to a more lovely guy," says Paquin, 41, whose new movie, A Bit of Light, will hit theaters on Friday, April 5.

"There are those people you meet and you think, 'They couldn't possibly be that nice,' and then they are," she says of Jackman. "And he's exactly the same, as far as I can tell. He's one of those people who's a good role model for how to conduct yourself in this world. You can be all the big things and you can still be kind, be human, know what matters."

X-MEN THE LAST STAND US 2006 Rogue Anna Paquin and Iceman Shawn Ashmore find their relationship at a crossroads
Anna Paquin and Shawn Ashmorin X Men: The Last Stand in 2006. MARY EVANS/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX / MARVEL COMICS/RONALD GRANT/EVERETT COLLECTION


Paquin says she also prefers to live a low-key life, which she's managed to do despite making films and TV shows for 30 years, and marrying her True Blood costar Stephen Moyer in 2010. (Moyer directed Paquin in A Bit of Light.)

Why Stephen Moyer Loves Working With Wife Anna Paquin: 'I Miss Her Otherwise' (Exclusive)
After being discovered in her native New Zealand age 10 and winning an Oscar at 11 for The Piano (becoming the second youngest person ever to win an Oscar, after Tatum O'Neal who won for Paper Moon at age 10 in 1974), she says her parents did a great job sheltering her from the trappings of fame.

"I got to be a kid," she says, adding that she's so grateful that she grew up in a world without social media.

She says she and Moyer try to do the same when it comes to their twins, Charlie and Poppy.

"Luckily it's not a thing yet because they're only 11," she says, of keeping them off Snapchat or Instagram. "Obviously some kids have it at that age for professional reasons, usually run by a parent. But otherwise I don't think it's good idea to document every single silly thing you do as a kid," she says, adding that what you say and do can have implications, even when you're young.

"Even if you don't think it's that bad or your video doesn't matter, your future employer might!"

[jo]

dude
@amicableguy7
re-watching the x-men franchise and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine might just be the single greatest casting job ever

Hugh Jackman's acting skills fit the needs to portray the duality in the character of Wolverine!

[jo]

From reddit --

djordi
•
2y ago
Wolverine debuted in the comics back in 1974. The character was 26 years old when the original X-Men movie premiered.

Jackman has been the broad pop culture view of Wolverine for 22 (now 24) years now. At this point his portrayal is about as important as the original comic version.

Also, from the same discussion - badass and vulnerable are qualities of Wolverine that Hugh Jackman was able to bring out very well.

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

VMartinWrites
@writes_v
·
1h
Hugh Jackman was in the Music Man
Thats it. Thats the joke.


#xmendevolution #vmartinwrites #artistsontwitter #ArtistsOfTwitter #xmenfanart #THISISSTUPID

[jo]

Continuing the discussion on "X" with the one who drew the comic strip --

JoAB
@joab46466753
·
12m
What was interesting was Wolverine(HughJackman) & Prof Xavier(Patrick Stewart) once talked about doing the dramatic musical Sweeney Todd,while promoting LOGAN.



VMartinWrites
@writes_v
·
4m
...we were *robbed*! Forget turn off the dark. Give me Sweeney Todd with Wolverine. He already has the blades installed!



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
1m
Lol - what a keen observation. Hugh Jackman aka Wolverine doing Sweeney Todd without any need for a barber's blade 😂

Lol - if Hugh ever auditioned for the role - he will beat anyone, blades down -- including all the original performers (Cariou/Depp)

Jo